COURT RULES DAD CAN SPY ON CHILD’S CHATS
A FATHER who was sued by his ex-wife for reading their nine-year-old daughter’s WhatsApp conversations has been cleared by a Spanish court.
The mother claimed the man had breached privacy laws by reading the messages, but the Provincial Court of Pontevedra ruled against her, stating that parents have a legal right to monitor their children’s online activities.
The dad reportedly asked his daughter for her phone password and read through her WhatsApp messages, including those between the girl and her mother.
“Both my kids told me that their father took them to their bedrooms and went over my daughter’s conversations with them,” the woman told Spanish daily newspaper El Espanol.
“He asked my son for his phone’s password too but he refused.”
She also told the court the father allegedly threatened his son with a call to the police if he didn’t give up his phone.
The unnamed woman argued that her ex-husband’s actions breached Spain’s privacy laws, but the judged ruled that the claim conflicted with Article 154 of the country’s civil code, which relates to parental responsibilities.
The section states parents have an obligation to watch over and educate children.
Magistrate María del Rosario Cimadevila Cea, said that WhatsApp and other forms of social media used by minors “requires attention and vigilance on the part of the parents or carers”.
The court heard that the man had received permission from his daughter to read over the messages together and there was no evidence of intent to do harm to her with the information obtained.
The mother was ordered to cover legal costs of the case.
WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in February, 2014 for $19 billion. WhatsApp’s monthly active users have more than doubled from when the deal closed.
Its biggest competitors are WeChat, primarily used in China, and Line, most popular in Japan, both of which offer online payment options.
WhatsApp, meanwhile, has a foothold in India where there are 70 million users. Last year, WhatsApp announced a business platform which will let companies provide customer service to users at scale.